Requiem for Vegeta-sei
by something like human
Summary: Vegeta has been on Earth for almost twenty years. What did he leave behind in space? More than he thought. Is he ready to deal with that part of his past and, even more important, is the past ready to deal with him?
1. The bet

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ. I do claim any original characters that may or may not appear herein. 

A/N: Trunks is 16 and Goten is 15, you can figure out ages and time periods from there. If not, ask me. 

And without further ado, I present to you, Chapter One.

Watching the people walking down the crowded streets, she was glad that her parents had been abnormally small for their race. She was just slightly shorter than most of the men she saw. _At least on this planet I won't have to disguise myself that much. I could actually blend in quite easily._

She ran a hand through her short, black hair. She was glad it was finally growing back. She had recently come of age so she had been shaved as a sign of the passage from childhood into being a warrior. The males of her race did not have to make the sacrifice, it was assumed that they would be warriors; only the girls who were strong enough were even permitted to train and attempt the rites. That had been what she had been told, but things were different now. Everyone was trained, even the weak ones, the one's not worthy of the chance.

Her scouter's beeping brought her out of her thoughts. She fished it out of the pocket of her long coat. From the looks of things, the elevated power levels were close. She figured it would not be who she had been sent to find since he was supposedly dead, long dead.

Her trail had led her to an asteroid field that used to be a planet. Rumor had it; a Super Saiyan had destroyed it. She had just laughed at that, Super Saiyan was just an old legend told to children to make them train harder. Rumor also had it that some of the people who were last on that planet, were now here. All she had to do was find them, confirm the death and she could go home. And since she had heard that they had been warriors, she was searching for the highest power levels on the planet. This was considerably harder than it should have been. No one seemed to have any power level to speak of. It was all a little too strange.

She turned the corner and found what caused her scouter to beep and she frowned. The only people there were two teenaged boys loading bags into a hover car. They were definitely too young to have been there. The one kind looked like her kind if he had not been smiling like an idiot. His wild, black hair was right but he had no tail. The other was definitely human. Even though she only saw him from behind, his purple hair gave him away.

She watched as the boys finished loading the car and drove off. She then looked at her scouter; another power level was in the same direction the boys were headed. She walked to the edge of the city, giving them enough time to get ahead of her and then took off. She laughed at the thought of following some of the strongest power levels on the planet; that were only slightly higher than the general population. She would have to be careful in case they had some sort of scanner. She would have been picked up instantly with a power level about ten thousand. She did not want to be discovered. Her race was not known for stealth, but desperate times made one try to learn new things.

"Dude, you feel that?" Goten ask turning to his best friend in the driver's seat.

"Someone with a high power level is following us," Trunks said confirming the boy's suspicion. "Well, not that high…"

"I don't recognize the ki though. I wonder who it is. You make any one made lately Trunks?"

"Funny," he responded dryly. "Now seriously, what should we do?"

"Probably just keep going towards my house," Goten said while trying to look in the rear view mirror to see if their follower could be seen.

"Who ever it is could be following our ki or be headed towards your dad's ki."

"Or Gohan, he took Bra and Pan fishing today near my house. Why he would want to torture himself by taking two preschoolers fishing is beyond me," Goten added. "Anyways if we get to fight them there's nothing there to get destroyed."

"Except your house, stupid."

"Oh, yeah, forgot about that," the youngest Son laughed. "We'll just have to be careful. I could probably take them without even going super saiyan."

"Want to make a bet? I don't think you can do it," Trunks challenged.

"I think I can. Same wager as always?"

"You know it. I win I get the tape. You win, you get it."

"Sounds fair enough, Trunks my man. I'll like getting it back from you. You've had it way too long."

"Deal," they said in unison as they shook hands. They drove on in silence for a few minutes as each thought about what would happen when they got near the Son residence. 

"Hey, Trunks, I wonder if Master Roshi has figured out that he's missing a video yet?"

A/N: I am sorry for any of ya'll that know me IRL and think this sounds familiar. Yes I know, Trunks and Goten sound just like my twin bro and his best friend. I couldn't resist doing that scene. I have actually witnessed a similar wager take place.


	2. First Fight

Disclaimer: I still don't own DBZ, I do however, own three years of college education that I paid for myself

Disclaimer: I still don't own DBZ, I do however, own three years of college education that I paid for myself. If you want to sue me, you will be preventing a very determine student from gaining the education she needs. Ok, here's chapter two, which is being typed up instead of a six-page research paper on teenaged sexuality.

She flew past the grounded hover car towards the power level. She assumed that they had not detected her since they landed at a small house and let her fly by.She did not know how wrong she was. All she knew was that there was an elevated power level in the woods just past the house. _Hopefully I will find someone who can confirm the rumor and then I can get off of this blasted, green, flowering dirt ball._

_ _

Her thoughts were cut short by her pocket-scouter beeping. She look down at it in her hand and when she looked up, she stopped midair. The two boys were floating in front of her, with their arms crossed glaring at her. The lavender-haired one spoke first, making it seem as though he were the leader of the two. His voice was low and calm but firm and full of confidence. 

"Looking for someone?"

"No one you'd know, boy, Now outta my way children before I have to hurt you," she said sharply.

"I wouldn't jump to conclusions too quickly. You don't know anything about who you are speaking to," Trunks continued trying not to smirk. "Why don't you tell us why you're here before my friend here gets too impatient and beats it out of you."

The girl looked at her hand-held scouter again. Their power levels combined were nowhere near even the weakest infant's of her people. She then smirked at their seeming false confidence. "The ability to fly does not make one a great warrior but if you want to try your luck, bring it on little boy."

"You need a scouter to tell you if you can beat us," Trunks said and turned to Goten. "This will be easier than we thought."

"Yeah, too easy," Goten agreed eying her up. "How about we make it fairer? I won't power up above her power level? Maybe then we won't attract everyone else."

She almost laughed at the boy's antics. _They must be crazy_. Before she could tell them what she thought, her scouter beeped and she looked up in disbelief. The dark-haired boy's power level jumped to match hers exactly and he did not seem to put any effort into it.

"Kuso shinsei!!" she exclaimed in her native language.

The boys exchanged somewhat surprised glances. Then the lavender-haired one narrowed his eyes and spoke to her again. "Why don't you let me hold you scouter and your nice coat so they don't get damaged?"

"You've got a point, I wouldn't want to get his blood on my coat," she replied as she shed the long garment she had used to help her blend in on this planet. Underneath, she was wearing traditional saiyan armor.

"So you think you're a saiyan?" Goten teased but quickly regretted it as she unwound her tail from her waist.

"Not just a saiyan, a first class elite Saiyan," She replied in a voice that was every bit as cocky as the boys' had been. "Now are we going to start this?"

"Ladies first," Goten said mockingly.

The girl lunged at him and directed a flurry of punches and kicks at him. He blocked them all with out hitting back. She smirked as she watched him back up away from the onslaught.

"Come on, don't waste time. I promised mom that I'd have the car back by dark."

"Alright, you're no fun though. This is kinda like sparing with your baby sister."

"Do you two ever shut up?"

"Do you ever know when you're fighting a losing battle?"

"I don't lose."

"Then there's a first for everything," Goten said taking the offensive. Both combatants were vaguely aware of the other people starting to gather around as they traded blows. Had she had her scouter, she probably would have fainted. All she knew was that it was a strange combination of people, she did not know that the one she had been searching for was watching her every move.

After a particularly rough exchange, the girl was sent flying back by a punch from Goten. _He's stronger than I thought. I'm going to have to take this up a notch. Time for a ki attack…_

"RED RAGE!!!" she yelled as she released the attack.

A red ki ball flew at Goten. Without thinking, he powered up to prepare for it. He still did not go super saiyan though. He crossed his arms in from of himself to block. The blasts made him hit the ground and slide backwards. He, however, stayed on his feet and remained unharmed.

"Shimatta!" she cursed again in her own language."How in the hell did he survive that?"

"Better yet," ask a male voice from the ground. She looked to see a man in an orange gi addressing her. "What do you want?"

She glared down at the earthling. "I just want some answers. I just need to confirm someone's death."

"Well you should ask instead of trying to pick a fight with my son," yell Goku.

"He didn't look like he would know, but you look like you might. Tell me, do you know what happened on the planet Namek before it exploded?"

"As a matter of fact, I was the last one to leave it before it exploded."

"Then tell me, did the Saiyan die?"  
  


"Which Saiyan?" Goku ask in all seriousness. The girl did not like his answer, thinking it was an insult. She thought he was giving her a hard time.

"What do you mean, 'which one'? I've done my research. There was only one that it could have been there, everyone else is assumed to have died long before that. And don't lie to me, I already know those boys know what a Saiyan is, so one of you has to know what happened." She took a deep breath, "Is the Saiyan Prince Vegeta dead?"

"Homini?"

**** 

A/n: I know, I'm evil. Cliffhanger. I've got studying to do, I'll post more later! Thanks to everyone who's reviewed, even the one's who told me in person what they thought. Thanks for the yoohoo, my favorite convenience store working cyborg. 


	3. Who?

Disclaimer: as of 9:56 pm Saturday October 6, 2001, I do not own DBZ.

* * * * * 

"Homini?"

She turned to the source of the voice but she could not see whom it was that had spoken. The person was floating above her directly in front of the late afternoon sun. She shielded her eyes with her hand but could only make out a vague outline of a figure. A silence fell on all gathered there as each of them tried to discern what was going on.

"There is, or was, only one person I know who used that ki technique," the silhouetted figure spoke again. His words came across coldly. "And you are not her."

"How do you know my name?" she spat back accusingly.

Lowering so he was eye to eye with her, Vegeta replied, "I'm the one that gave it to you."

The collective gasp and following murmuring from the onlookers were not heard by the two saiyans staring at each other.Two sets of onyx eyes met and silently asked a thousand questions.As the others grew silent to watch, the two finally found words. It was not a question but a plain statement that escaped both their lips in unison.

"I thought you were dead…"

Vegeta must have remembered the audience they had and turned to glare at them. "What are you staring at?"

Goku, master of the obvious, cocked his head towards Vegeta, "Do you know her? She was looking for you?"

"Baka," the prince growled. He looked around once more and started to fly away. Goku made as if he were going to follow him but Vegeta yelled back, "If you follow me, Kakarott, I'll kill you."

Goku stopped and turned back to the rest of the group. He looked at the girl and smiled. "Why don't you go to Capsule Corps with everyone else. I'll just go talk to Vegeta." With that, he lifted his fingers to his forehead and disappeared.

Homini slowly descended to the ground. She took a moment to look at those staring at her.The group was smaller since the two had left but there were still five earthlings. These included the two boys, a man a few years older than her, and two small girls – one with black hair and one with blue. An idle thought went through her head; _besides the light haired ones, they all look like Saiyans. Albeit, without tails._

"Come on, everyone, we should be going. Goten, does mom know where you are?" ask the oldest one. 

"Well, she knows I was going to stay over at Trunks' tonight," replied the boy she had fought.

"Good well then let's go," he said and looked past Homini. "Trunks, you could give her back her coat."

She turned to face the boy so she could get her stuff back, but stopped. The lavender haired boy was glaring at her.The look in his eyes was a mix of rage and confusion. He just stood there, holding her coat, glaring, not moving.

"Earth to Trunks, helloooooo," said Goten laughing uneasily.

"Give her stuff back to her and capsule your car and get a move on."

Homini moved closer to the youth. Trunks looked at Gohan for a moment, sighed and handed the jacket and scouter to her. Before either could say anything, their attention was drawn to the child tugging on Trunks' pant leg. 


	4. Flight Home

Disclaimer: Doesn't this stuff feel kind of insignificant due to the US bombing Afghanistan? Please say a little prayer for my twin brother who is in the US Army. Thank you! Now on to a pleasant (I hope) distraction….

* * * 

Before either could say anything, their attention was drawn to the child tugging on Trunks' pant leg.

"Trunks, Trunks, Trunks," pleaded the girl in time to her tugs. 

"What, Bra?" Came an annoyed sounding reply from the boy.

"I caught a fish! See?" 

Trunks finally looked down at the little girl who was now triumphantly holding up a small fish for him to see.She had a big smile on her face even though the fish was only a small sunfish.At another time or under other circumstances, Trunks would have shared the tiny girl's enthusiasm. 

"That's nice, little sis," he said walking away.He went to the car and capsuled it so they could fly.He turned around and saw that his sister had turned her attention to someone else. She was now trying to show it off to the Saiyan.

"See? Pan's daddy took us fishing today! I caught it all by myself…well I didn't put the yucky worm on the hook. Worms are yucky!"

"Aren't you afraid of me little girl?" Homini asked.She was a little shocked at the girl's lack of fear of strangers let alone fear of aliens.

"No. Why should I be?" Bra replied in all innocence. 

"Because I'm a Saiyan and could hurt you."

The girl giggled wildly. "You're silly!" Bra then ran over to her brother and held her arms up, "I wanna fly with you." She was promptly picked up and they took off silently.

All Homini could do was stand there and blink at the encounter with the child.She wondered who these people were that seemed so unfazed by Saiyans, knew the Prince, and why were they so trusting of her. From what she saw from her scouter, none of them had power levels to brag about.So much had transpired since she picked the fight with the boys that she did not recall Goten's power level rising, and because she didn't have her scouter at the time she did not know that his power level had raised well above hers when she sent the blast at him.

There were too many questions she needed answered.She had too many questions that she thought could possibly be answered when she left home originally. Now, even though she found who she was looking for, all she had was more questions.And these questions seemed even more difficult than the original ones.

Someone talking to her brought her out of her thoughts. "Homini? Is that what Vegeta called you?"

"Whatever Earthling. I'm not in the mood for small talk," she stated looking at the man with a black haired toddler in his arm.

"Anyways, I'm Son Gohan," he extended his hand for her to shake. "Welcome to Earth," he mumbled under his breath when she did not respond to the gesture.

Confused by the man's gesture, Homini just ignored his extended hand. She did not know if it was a greeting or some sort of challenge."Are you going to take me to Vegeta anytime this century?"

"Um, sure. Follow me," he said lifting off. He looked back behind at the other boy. "Goten, let's go. You have some explaining to do."

Homini tried to ignore their conversation as they flew.It was hard, she could not tell if they were making it all up for some reason or if it really was the truth.Then again, she did not know which would be worse, the expanse of their lies or the truth.

"Now, Goten, whatever possessed you to fight an unknown enemy? And why didn't you at least power up?"

"Well…uh…you see, Trunks and I, we...uh...made a bet…" stammered the younger one.

"Great, that again," Gohan groaned."Why didn't you go and get Dad or I or any other adult if you knew there would be trouble? When I was your age, I knew enough not to start a fight alone."

"Gohan, by the time you were my age, you had already fought Freiza, the androids, and Cell.Trunks and I never got to do any of that other than we fought Buu," Goten whined.

Gohan stopped midair and turned to glare at his brother.His voice was steeped with anger, "I fought because I had to, not because I wanted to. You didn't have to watch Frieza hurt and kill your friends."

"Whoa! Wait a minute, back up!" Homini exclaimed as she stopped beside the earthlings."You mean to tell me that you fought Frieza…and lived.He was on Namek when it was destroyed so you would have had to fight him prior to that.Which means that you would have been a mere child!" She looked confused to the point of being frantic. "What the hell is going on here on this planet?!"

"Yeah, he was just a little guy and fought the Ginyu Force and Frieza. 'Course, Krillen, Mr. Piccolo, dad, and even Vegeta were fighting, too. It would have been so cool to have seen that!"

"Yeah, real cool," Gohan said angrily."I watched that monster kill Dende, Krillen, Vegeta, and the innocent Nameks there. Then I had to drag an unconscious Piccolo back to the space ship and leave dad there on the dying planet to face Frieza alone.Then back on Earth we didn't know for the longest time who survived the explosion of Planet Namek. It must have been horrible because dad still won't tell us what happened exactly." Saying no more Gohan flew off again leading the way to Capsule Corps. 

Goten shrugged and followed knowing better than to try to bring up the topic again.Homini just flew, still lost in thought. She was even more confused.She knew she had heard him say that he watched Vegeta die but she knew that she had just seen him. She almost did not notice that they were descending near a large building.

They landed and stood in an awkward silence.Gohan was first to break it. He turned to face his brother and Homini as he spoke, "I'm going to go tell Bulma what's going on and call Videl. I have a feeling that we're going to be a while here and she might want to take Pan home."

Homini walked over to a nearby tree and sat with her back against it. She drew her one knee up to her chest and wrapped her arm around it, the other one she kept out in front of her. Goten mumbled something about finding Trunks. He wandered off leaving the girl alone with her own thoughts. 

* * * * 

A/N: Patience, grasshopper, you will soon find out who Homini is.Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and especially those who reviewed repeatedly! It is very much appreciated. 


	5. In the Gravity Chamber

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ. But I do have the flu, so if you sue me, all you'll get is germs. And I don't think you want that. I will share my ginger ale and crackers though. I'm not a totally meanie.

* * * 

Meanwhile back at the Gravity Chamber…

"Come on, Vegeta! What's going on?"

"I told you not to follow me Kakarot! Now get out of my site."

Goku moved in front of Vegeta as the smaller man threw punches at an imaginary foe. "I didn't follow you," he said with his goofy smile starting to appear on his face. "I got here at the same time you did."

"Damn instantaneous movement!"

"So is she a full-blooded Saiyan? Like you and me?" Goku took the Prince's silent glare as an affirmative answer and continued on his train of thought. "She looks younger than Gohan, so she would have been born after Vegeta-sei was destroyed. But that's what I don't get.I only know of male survivors.So unless there's something about Saiyan breeding that I don't know…"

"There were more survivors of Vegeta-sei than just us," the prince started as he shut off the gravity in the chamber. "The strongest of us were already off world working for Freiza. Others suspected Freiza might take their children or worse, so they devised a plan.They would send more of their children out on missions, like you were sent.

"More adults started taking on off world missions, too. Freiza assumed it was out of loyalty to him. Then the space pods started 'malfunctioning', veering off course and eventually exploding. Freiza assumed this was because of Saiyan stupidity. He couldn't have been more wrong.

"It was a Saiyan genius that that devised how to make the pods transmit signals back to Freiza that showed them veering off course, malfunction, and then disappear as if they had been destroyed. He never knew it but his loyal pets were slowly evacuating their home world and relocating on another planet."

"What about the ones sent off as babies, like me?" questioned Goku trying to absorb all the new information the other man had given him. It was, by far, the largest amount of information Vegeta had ever told him of their home world.

"Piggy-backed on the implanted mission directions, was the information telling them that once they completed their task to go to the new location in stead of Vegeta-sei. When you hit you head, you must have lost that as well as your orders to destroy Earth."

"Oh," the brain damaged Saiyan said as he rubbed his head. "Is that how you survived?"

"No you idiot! I was one of Freiza's Saiyan slaves. I was contacted later, after the planet was destroyed and told about the refugees. They weren't sure that they could trust me," Vegeta smirked almost reminiscently. " Heh, they still didn't trust me even after I went there…"

The Prince of All Saiyans had a look of horror on his face. He slowly sat down on the floor, leaning his back against the control panel. He lowered his face so he was staring at the ground in front of him. Then in a quiet voice, he spoke, "They probably think that it was I who betrayed them… that I killed them."

"Killed who?" the third-class-born warrior ask as he sank to the floor beside the prince. He did not receive an answer for a long time and was beginning to think that he would not get one.

"That bastard had told me that he had my pod tracked. That he had found their hiding place," Vegeta didn't have to explain who the bastard was Goku knew he meant Freiza. "When I fought him on Namek, he told me that he had just received word that his men had successfully destroyed the planet they were on."

"So that's why you just seemed to break down…" Goku remembered but did not mention that he assumed that that had been the reason Vegeta had cried while dying.

"I didn't want to believe him," he continued wetting his lips nervously. "So after you got back and we were waiting for the androids, I had to see for myself. There was nothing left. They were all gone…Freiza had taken everything from me for the second time in my life. And at that moment, I just snapped. Right there in space, where they all died, I snapped."

"You went Super Saiyan for the first time…" Goku sat there not knowing what to say. _The girl must have reminded him of all he lost. Wait a minute if she's alive…_ Goku jumped to his fee when he came to the realization. "If the saiyan girl is alive, then that means that they all must be!"

Goku grabbed Vegeta by the arm dragging him out of the Gravity Chamber. "Come on, we have to find out why she came for you."

Vegeta dug his feet in and wrenched his arm out of the taller Saiyan's grasp. This sent the still moving Goku face first into the grass.

"Whoa, now what's the problem?" the grounded Saiyan ask looking up.

The other Saiyan had turned and started to ascend the stairs into the chamber again. He stopped for a minute thinking; he then lowered his shoulders in resignation. "If they are alive, that means I abandoned them. That I abandoned her…"

Goku ran up and stopped Vegeta by placing a hand on his shoulder. "You didn't think that they were alive. You've spent all this time with what you believed to be the only Saiyans left. She should understand that once you tell her. I don't think she knows you're not the only Saiyan here," they both jumped when they heard someone swear loudly in Saiya-go. " We better go, the boys must have brought her here."


	6. An answer of sorts

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or chocolate yoohoo…but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy both

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, but I do own a Cake cd… ::sings:: "sheep go to king kai's and goats go to HFIL…" 

* * *

There was a very long, uncomfortable silence as the Saiyan female and the earthling teenager waited outside for everyone to return. Goten had not been able to find Trunks so he came back to where Homini was sitting. He noted that she had stood up but was still leaning against the tree. He watched her as she stood with her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes closed. He finally could not take the silence any longer and had to break it.

"Good fight. I mean, it wasn't really that good but I was just getting warmed up. I was starting to get excited when you threw that ki attack. If you were just warming up then it could have been fun. But then dad had to butt in…"

"Shimatta!" the young woman swore in saiya-go."Who do you think you are? You think an Elite First Class Saiyan is a joke?"

Goten thought for a second, "I meant that fighting you was fun, not funny. Your fighting style was little different than what I'm used to. It was kinda like Vegeta's but still different…by the way, how do you know Vegeta anyways?"

"She's his daughter."

The two whirled around in shock to see Trunks standing there with his arms crossed glaring at them from under a veil of pale purple bangs. 

"Heh, you're pretty smart for a human. How'd you figure that out?" Homini said while smirking.

"Saiyan tradition states that the father names the child, and as stated earlier, Vegeta said he gave you your name," Trunks responded coldly. "Oh, and another thing, quit calling us 'earthling' and 'human'. We're only half-human."

"Tr...Trunks…if Vegeta is her fa…father, then that makes her…" Goten tried to work out.

"Shut up, Goten."

"Only half human, interesting." Homini said, still unfazed and unaware of most of what was going on. "So humans feel the need to pollute other species with their inferior blood?"

"Inferior!" Trunks screamed finally angered enough to lose control and started powering up.

"Stop now, boy," came a voice from behind Homini. She turned to see Vegeta walking towards them with the other man from earlier right behind him. She looked back at the boy and could tell even with out looking at her scouter that he was angry. His muscles were tensing and his hair was starting to lift up in the air. Homini did not know if she should be worried about that, humans were strange and relatively ignored by the rest of the universe. 

"Ima baka!" Vegeta growled half in saiyan. Homini watched as the youth relaxed his muscles and his hair fell back to its normal position. She could still tell that he was upset however. Then the realization hit her, the boy understood Saiya-go. _Maybe Vegeta is training him…He does seem stronger than the pathetic humans even though I don't have my scouter on right now…_

"And little girl, Shut up when you don't know anything about what you are saying," the prince scolded the warrior.

Homini hissed as she ran her fingers through her short-cropped hair. "I am no longer a little but a warrior in true Saiyan tradition. I don't waste my time with weaklings on distant planets."

"I would not say that say that if I were you," the tall man with Vegeta warned. 

"Shut up, Kakarot, this is none of your concern."

"Kakarot? That's a Saiyan name…" the girl's eyes widened as she looked at the man and then to the boy she had fought. She then noticed the other man from earlier returning with a woman. "You're a Saiyan and those are your sons!"

"You're pretty smart for a Saiyan. It took you that long to figure it out."

"You should have more respect for the Princess of all Saiyans!"

"Feh, she really has no idea, does she _father_?" Trunks growls as he flies over to the house and slams the door as he walks in. 

"I see, as always, I miss the interesting stuff," complained the woman with blue hair with Gohan. "Someone mind filling me in?"

"That girl," Goku started pointing at Homini. "is a Saiyan and she came here looking for Vegeta."

"Thanks, Goku for telling me what I already found out from your son. Now can someone tell me why she's looking for him?"

Goten coughed and mumbled, "She's his daughter…"

Bulma, Gohan, and Goku face-vaulted. Vegeta just smirked at the teenager. "How'd you figure that out boy?"

"Umm…actually Trunks did," the boy responded nervously, not knowing how to handle the situation.

Bulma, recovering from her face-vault, gives Vegeta a death glare. "Is that true?"

"Like there's any doubt that Homini's my brat," the Prince said smirking and nodding towards the girl.

Bulma looked over to the young woman to see her with her arms crossed over her chest and a smirk on her face. "Oh, Kami…"

* * * 

a/n: now will ya'll quit bugging me about who Homini is? LOL ::dodges flying nerfballs::


	7. Temper Tantrums

Disclaimer: I still don't own DBZ

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ. Nuff said.

* * * 

Bulma looked over to the young woman to see her with her arms crossed over her chest and a smirk on her face. "Oh, Kami…"

There was a brief moment of silence where everyone who was familiar with Bulma and Vegeta took a step away from them. Homini noticed that with mild curiosity. Before she could even ask why they moved, she found herself stepping back to save her ears.

"Well that's a good thing to know. When were you planning on telling us? You've been here for almost twenty years and you never thought that it was important enough to tell me that you had a child? Damn it, Vegeta, is there anything else you neglected to tell me?"

"Woman, shut your mouth. I have more important questions to find the answers to than whose bed I did what in over twenty years ago," the Prince of all Saiyans turned his attention to his first born. "You're dead. Tell me why that isn't true."

"Same could be said for you," Homini started but decided to cooperate for once. "No thanks to you and Freiza's other henchmen, the planet we were on was destroyed."

"Don't think I had anything to do with it, girl," sneered Vegeta.

"Yeah right, my Prince," sad the girl in a voice dripping with venom. "We had you traced to the battle on Namek which places you with him after the destruction of our home."

"You're wrong," spoke up Goku. "Vegeta was fighting with us against Freiza on Namek."

"Kakarot, I never fight _with_ you unless I'm trying to bash your head in," Vegeta retorted trying to save some dignity. 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on a minute!" The blue-haired woman held her arms out symbolically stopping everyone from arguing. "I want everyone with an ounce of Saiyan blood to drop the egos right now. And that means you too Trunks," she yelled turning to the building. "I know you're up there listening to everything so get your butt down here now."

Homini watched as the boy emerged from a window and flew down to the group. He still looked angry. _I wonder why he's so pissed?_

_ _

"Ok," continued the woman. "Obviously Vegeta is not dead and neither is his…ah…daughter. Now, so no one else argues, I will give the fly-by version of why 'His Royal Highness' over there is still among the living. Any objections?" She didn't give anyone a chance to stop her though. She went on quite quickly, "We wished him back to life along with all the others Freiza killed on Namek. Yes he fought Freiza and died. And he has remained here, for the most part, ever since. Now girl, explain to Vegeta why you are alive when he believed you to be otherwise." She took a breath and muttered "And then will someone explain to me why she's even alive at all. No offense but I thought that the Saiyans we've seen here were the only ones left and they were all male. So unless you're a hybrid…"

"I AM NOT A HALF-BREED! How insulting!" Homini screamed.

"Kami, girl, I didn't mean anything by it!" Bulma said a little aggravated. "Now just tell us what happened before Vegeta has an aneurysm or something."

"Well since I was only an infant when this happened, I'll tell you what I was told," she began. "I guess we got an anonymous tip that Freiza knew we were on Planet R58-3 and was sending one of his lackey's to destroy it. We evacuated but left one of power level generators there running. That way, who ever was sent there would detect Saiyan power levels on his scouter and think were still there. It worked. We're alive, for the most part."

"Now was that hard?" Bulma exclaimed. She looked at Vegeta and then the girl and then back. "Now will you tell me why you have a daughter and never told me, Vegeta?"

The prince showed no expression on his face and spoke flatly, "Saiyan tradition demands the king to produce an heir. Since I was to be king, I needed an heir. So they chose the highest level female left and gave her to me."

"Um, thank you for being so blunt…" Bulma said sarcastically. "Did this woman have a name?"

"She was called Kauli but she was no woman, but a girl a little younger than Homini is now. She was a First Class, not an Elite though. That's probably why the union produced a daughter."

"How dare you!" Homini shrieked. "That is no way to talk of your bonded queen, especially since she is my mother!"

"We were not bonded." Vegeta growled. "How is she anyways?"

"Dead, thanks for asking."

The group stood there in silence, once again not knowing what to say. The sun was starting to dip below the horizon. The all turned when they heard one of Capsule Corps doors open. The watched as the tiny, blue-haired girl comes running towards them. She had little pink pajamas on and was bare foot.

Homini watched with great surprise as the child ran right up to Vegeta and stopped. She watched as the girl waited to get his attention and look at her. The she almost fell over at what she witnessed next. 

"Will you come 'n tuck me in daddy? Grammy said I gotta go to bed," the girl lifted her arms up waiting to be picked up while she spoke.

Homini watched in disbelief as the Prince of All Saiyans lifted the obviously human child into his arms with practiced care. The tiny child laid her head down on his muscular shoulder as she tried to wrap her arms around his neck. Homini was dumbstruck. She had no idea what just happened, her brain did not want to think about her father holding a non-saiyan child.

The little girl then turned her bright, blue eyes to Homini. "Daddy, who's the girl over-der?"

"Her name is Princess Homini, Bra-chan," Vegeta said to his little girl.

"But I thought I was a princess," Bra said looking a bit hurt.

"You both are, I guess," he responded quickly not wanting to upset her. 

"Oh, Like Trunks is a prince?" the girl deduced. "She looks like you but not like mommy. She's got spiky-dark hair like you." The child smiled. "Pretty…but why don't she look like me?"

"Your mother is not hers," he explained as the child in his arms tried to get down. He let her get to her feet and watched as she walked up to the other girl. Bra looked at the Saiyan girl for a moment before she spoke again.

"C'mere," she said. When all she got in response was a puzzled look she tugged Homini's hand down. "Down here, please," she commanded."

Homini, still slightly shocked at the whole situation, squatted down in front of the girl. "Uh…what…do you want kid?"

"Hi!" the child squealed as she quickly hugged her around the neck. When Bra stepped back she giggled at the thoroughly confused look on Homini's face. "You are silly, Hominimini!"

"It's _Hom-in-I_, kid."

"Hominimini!"

"No, HOMINI. Get it right."

"Bra-chan, let me take you up to bed," Trunks said dryly trying to prevent an argument.

"No, I want Daddy to!" The girl pouted dramatically.

"Come on, he's got stuff to do, leave him alone and I'll take you up."

"NO! I. WANT. DADDY!"

Homini jumped as her scouter beeped. She fished it out of her pocket and watched as the little girl's power level started climbing from almost nothing to over a couple hundred in a matter of seconds. She looked over at the girl as Trunks tried to grab her hand to take her inside. Bra started crying and screaming "no" over and over.

Vegeta just shook his head, "Leave her be. The last time she got worked up like that, she almost went Super Saiyan. I think she gets her temper from her mother." He walked up to his youngest and picked her up again. She instantly calmed down. "I am putting her to bed. When I get back I want Kakarot and his spawn gone. This does not concern you."


	8. waiting

Eight gamepro Normal gamepro 3 47 2001-10-23T01:13:00Z 2001-10-23T02:00:00Z 3 594 3390 28 6 4163 9.2720 

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ. I do however own a package of Ramen noodles and a bottle of YooHoo…yummy.

* * * 

As Vegeta walked away, Homini sat down in the grass staring at the scouter.  She did not understand how that little girl had so much power.  No Saiyan child she knew was even that strong that young and she did not look like a Saiyan. Her father would not mate with a human, so she could not be even a half-breed.  "I just don't get it…" she whispered.

"Get what?" Goten ask sitting down near her.

"Everything," Homini answered without looking at the boy. She did not know why she was answering but she did anyways. "You, your father mating with a human, the girl's power level, your fighting. Why is everyone acting like, like, there's something going on here that I don't know…"

"Oh," Goten thought for a second. "It's not too hard to understand. My dad didn't know that he was a Saiyan until after Gohan was born. And Bra's also half Saiyan, she's Vegeta's daughter. Vegeta and Bulma have been together for years. And fighting? Umm…we've learned to hide our ki."

"Goten, I'm going to take Pan home now," Gohan said quietly trying to not wake the sleeping toddler in his arms. "And dad, you should probably go, too. I don't know what you and Vegeta talked about but he's in no mood for you to try to push your luck by staying."

"Yeah, I'm going. He needs some time alone with his family," the large Saiyan started to leave. "Goten, stay out of everyone's way. If you want to you can come home instead of staying with Trunks."

"Nah, I'll be ok," Goten said looking over at his silent best friend and then to Bulma.

Bulma took the initiative, "He'll be fine, Goku. Vegeta won't really notice him. Besides he's practically lived here since he was born. Anyways Trunks could use some cheering up of the variety that only the Son's can give."

"Bye Dad!" Goten told his stalling father. "Thanks Bulma-san."

The group got silent again after the majority of the Son's left. It was uncomfortably silent. One by one everyone turned to look at the female Saiyan seated on the grass. The girl finally looked up into two sets of blue eyes and one set of black.

"Great Kami Dende, why me?" Bulma sighed looking up at the darkening sky. "I must wear a sign that says 'takes in stray Saiyans' or something. Come on, everyone inside. Even you, girl."

Once everyone was inside Capsule Corps, Bulma still barked orders at everyone. Goten was sent to the kitchen to find some tea; Mrs. Briefs disappeared upstairs to prepare a room for the girl. Bulma took Homini in to a sitting room to wait for Vegeta. Trunks followed behind and then leaned against the far wall.

They waited in silence for the prince to return. Goten returned with the tea and set it on the coffee table. It sat there untouched left to get cold.  The Prince of All Saiyans must have decided not to grace his family with his presence. 

"Trunks, will you go find your father?" Bulma said trying not to get angry. 

"He left. I felt his ki leave a little while ago," the demi-Saiyan stated turning his cold gaze to his mother.

"Well, where'd he go?" Bulma questioned not hiding her anger well. 

"Don't know, he's masking his ki now."

"Goten, did you sense where he went?" She said turning to the boy seated on the couch. "Goten?"

"Huh? What? Did you say something Bulma-san?" He mumbled while yawning. "Sorry, I must have dozed off."

"That man is impossible…" Bulma sighed. "Ok boys, upstairs. Nothing more is going to happen tonight."

"Yes, Bulma-san," Goten said getting up. He walked over to Homini and bowed. "It was a pleasure to meet you Homini-san. Good night."

Homini just sat there and watched the boy.  It confused her that the boy she fought a little while before was now showing deep respect. She then watched as he straightened up and was cuffed upside the head by Trunks.

"Ow, Trunks, what was that for?"

He did not reply, he just snarled a bit and walked out of the room. Goten hurried after the purple haired youth. Bulma tried to yell at Trunks but no response. Homini just stared at the retreating demi-Saiyans. 


	9. women...

Disclaimer: Hey diddle, diddle, the cat and the fiddle, I don't own DBZ.

A/N: Sorry for not posting for a while. Been writing way too much at school. But, if you feel like you have to read something I wrote to make up for the time I wasn't posting, I could email you my term paper. *L*

******

Bulma looked at Homini for a minute.  She had never seen a female Saiyan before other than the demi-saiyans who were both just little girls.  But here, sitting in her living room was a full grown, traditionally trained and raised Saiyan woman.  She amended that thought, the girl was barely a woman, and at most she was just a few years older than Trunks. She was young enough to be her daughter; she practically was her daughter.

Getting a closer look at the girl, she noted that there was nothing about the way she was dressed that seemed feminine.  She had Saiyan armor on with the same color blue body suit that Vegeta had worn years ago.  Her hair was extremely short compared to the male Saiyans she had encountered excluding Nappa.  She could not tell if the alien girl was proportioned like a human woman because the armor covered her up too much.

"What are you staring at, Earthling?" the girl snapped.

"A very cranky Saiyan," Bulma retorted standing up.  "I got a room ready for you. You can stay at least until Vegeta comes back, after that, Kami only knows what will happen.  Let's go, it's this way."

Homini reluctantly followed the woman.  The human chattered away incessantly, probably about the house; Homini was not listening though.  Her thoughts were on the day she just went through.  Her eyes, however, were on the human.  She was trying to see what was so special about humans.  She was wondering why two Saiyans would choose these people to stay with when they were obviously a weaker species.

"In here," bulma said as she opened a door and flicked on a light.  "You can sleep here.  There are some clothes for you to sleep in and a towel.  The bathroom is down the hall to the left.  Trunks's room is right next to yours, so if you try anything, he'll be there.  Any questions?"

"Just one," Homini ask quietly.  "Why all this?" As she spoke, she nodded towards the room.

"Because, a long time ago, I offered the same thing to a man all alone in this world that no one trusted or wanted here.  An you, look about as lost and alone as he did."

"Let me guess, it was Vegeta," the girl said sarcastically as she entered the room.  "But tell me this, why would he stay here?"

"First it was to wait for Goku, or I guess I should say Kakarott, to return.  Then it was to train to defeat the androids, then I guess it was because of Trunks…"

"So the kids really are his offspring," she asked with some trepidation.

"Yes," Bulma answered with pride.  "Vegeta is Trunks and Bra's father, which I guess if what you said is true, they are your brother and sister."

"Shimatta!"

"Watch your mouth," Bulma scolded out of habit.  "I may not have been formally taught the language like the kids were, but being a genius has its advantages.  From working with the space pods and everything, I've learned the technical words.  Then from Vegeta, I've picked up the more 'colorful' parts of the language.  And Vegeta swears like a sailor."

"What?" Homini was confused. "A sailor? What's that? Is it a bad thing?"

"It's just an expression," Bulma explained remembering years ago when Vegeta told her that she snored like a 'spiget' whatever that was.  She chuckled and further explained, "Sailors were men who worked on ships for months at a time only around other men.  And they supposedly became very vulgar."

"So Earth men on space ships," Homini repeated trying to figure out the meaning of the saying.

"No, water ships, boats. Not space ships," Bulma corrected.  "Humans aren't space ready yet."

"Hmmm, water crafts, how primitive."

"I, being the smartest woman in the world, naturally invented Earth's first space craft to leave the solar system.  Too bad Vegeta stole it and was the first to use it."

"Well, good for you," the girl mocked.

"Hmph!" Bulma said as she turned to leave the room.  "Breakfast will be on the table at seven tomorrow morning.  If you're not there by seven, you will have to fend for yourself.  Good night, Homini."

The Saiyan watched as her father's mate left.  She then closed the door and messed with the door until she assumed it was locked.  She did not trust the Eartlings.  There were too many things she did not know about them.

She looked around the room quickly, surveying her surroundings.  The room was fairly plain, like many off world rented rooms.  She noted with mild amusement that the bed was very soft.  There were also a number of blankets on the bed and in the closet, which meant that it must get cold on this planet.

She tossed her jacket on the bed beside a pile of clothes she assumed were Earth sleepwear.  She held up the garment to look at it.  The material was light and silky to the touch.  It had ruffles and looked as if it would come down to her knees if she had it on.  It was also the most revolting shade of light green Homini had ever seen.  She tossed the offending garment in the corner; she could sleep in her body suit after she removed her armor.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, she removed her boots and armor.  She then stretched.  Saiyan armor was made for men, no matter how much it expanded to fit someone; it still did not fit a woman's body correctly._  That definitely fit better when I was a child.  Of course, it would fit better if I were male.  Then again I would not have had to come here if I were a son instead of a daughter.  Then I could have just assumed the throne instead of what they are forcing me to do.  At least, with Vegeta alive now, maybe I won't have to go through it.  Then again, could he ever be accepted as King after he has let himself become weak staying with these primitive people…_

Unable to think of it anymore, Homini decided that she needed some fresh air.  She walked over to the window and opened it.  She was a little disappointed because a large tree was blocking her view of the sky.  She concluded that she needed to see the stars, so she flew out of the window and up to the roof.

"Kinda hard to go to sleep when your world gets turned upside down, isn't it?" said a voice behind her startling her.


	10. On the roof

Disclaimer:  I don't own anything except a grape flavored Piccolo Push Pop that lives in my purse.  *insert dirty comments about a Namek lollipop here*  

A/N:  Ok, now that I posted another chapter, my plot bunnies can go and bug SMDSP for a while. 

"Kinda hard to go to sleep when your world gets turned upside down, isn't it?" said a voice behind Homini startling her.

She turned to see who it was that spoke.  Sitting on the roof with his knees pulled up to his chest, was Trunks.  He nodded and pointed to his left, "Sit."

Homini obliged and they sat in silence for a few minutes staring up at the stars.  "So were you speaking for yourself? Not being able to sleep?"

"No, Goten snores," the youth answered a little too quickly.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"So."

"Huh?"

"Um…" Homini searched for something to say to ease the awkwardness.  "So, I guess half-breeds can survive.  I was always told that they'd be born as deformed monstrosities. You don't seem really misshapen or half-witted.  And, at least one of you can fight."

Trunks shook his head, "We survive quite well, actually Gohan's older than you. At least, I'm assuming that you're not much older than me.  And yes, we all can fight.  Gohan has the most ki out of all of us. Even father."

"What you just said could get you killed; it's treasonous to say that the prince is weaker than anyone."

"I wasn't challenging him, just stating a fact everyone knows.  Anyways, Gohan doesn't fight much any more," Trunks shrugged.  "Now if you really want to start something, tell dad that Goku can still beat him.  That'll make dad go after him and they'll disappear for a few days.  Then come back completely battered and almost half dead, but neither will ever say who won.  Although, I suspect if Dad won, he'd make sure everyone knew who the strongest Saiyan was."

"Goku, that's not a Saiyan name…but he's Goten's father so he is a Saiyan.  Why don't I know him?" Homini asked while thinking. _I thought all the Saiyans left alive were back home, except for Vegeta who was supposed to be dead anyways._

"His Saiyan name is Kakarot and I have heard father say it enough that I know he was a third class," Trunks explained trying to remember all the stories his mother had told him.  "His older brother is Radditz and I can't remember what his father's name is. I know I've heard father say something about his father before."

"Radditz's little brother?" Homini shook her head in disbelief. "You mean he's Bardoc's son. No way, he was assumed dead when he never showed up at the rendezvous point after completing his mission on some backwater planet."

"Backwater, as in Earth? Yeah, he kind of hit his head as a child and forgot his mission to destroy earth; he thought he was human. Now since you seem to be asking all the questions, I have one.  Rendezvous point? Mind explaining?"

Homini sighed.  She was too tired and confused to think that not half a day ago, the boy she was talking civilly with had threatened to fight her. "When the Saiyans back on Vegeta-sei started to suspect that Frieza was going to exterminate them, they decided that they needed to evacuate the planet so that at least some of our people survived.  A scientist named Bardoc redesigned the space pods to give off false information back to Frieza saying that they had been destroyed. They were instead going to a secret planet to regroup, the rendezvous point."

They grew silent again.  There was so much that they could have said that was hanging in the air around them that it was almost tangible.  Trunks just looked up at the stars thinking about what he had been told.  His father had never said that there was Saiyans left.  He knew his father always spoke of himself and Goku as the last, and that the man rarely lied. So he must not have known that they were still out there.   He must not have known that his daughter was still alive. He turned to look at Homini at that thought and caught her staring at him.  "What are you looking at?"

"You look like him," she answered thoughtfully.

"Huh?"

"You look like Vegeta," the girl said looking away. "There was a picture of him in the data files. He was quite young in the picture, it was taken long before I was born."

"Yeah, I really look like him," he said sarcastically. He then blew a few stray purple hairs out of his face. "If I didn't have this pale, limp human hair."

"I meant that you have Vegeta's face," she looked at him again. "And you're hair is weird.  It's funny how Vegeta's stands high and proud and his son's is limp."

"You keep calling him by his name or title, shouldn't you call him father or Otou-san or something?"

"I came here looking for the Prince, not a father," Homini answered defensively. "Anyways, if I accept him as my father, then I would have to accept that I have a half-breed as a brother and one as a sister. You may not be deformed, other than being tailless, but you are still a half-breed."

Trunks just glared at his father's oldest child.  After a moment he got up and started to fly back down to his window. He turned around before going in his room, "Well, since you found what you are looking for, leave."


	11. Time

Disclaimer:  *mumbles through a mouthful of Christmas cookies* ey dun wown dbz!

Homini woke with a start, unsure of where she was.  The soft bed and warm blanket was a quick reminder though.  As she sat up, she looked at what she had assumed to be Earth's style of a clock.  It was displaying the bright red numbers of three-four-six.  What ever that meant, it held no meaning to her.

She got up and fished through her coat pocket for her scouter.  When she looked at its standard space clock, she at least got a time that she could understand.  She looked back at the Earth clock and its last digit had changed.  The numbers still held no meaning to her.

She knew Bulma had told her that the morning meal was at seven but she had no clue how long it would be until then.  She noted that it was still dark outside.  Then again she was not even sure at what time the sun rose or how long after it that breakfast was.

She got up and stretched. She knew she had not slept long at all.  She picked up her boots to carry them down stairs with her.  She went to unlock the door but stopped to listen.  She could still hear one of the boys snoring and another's steady breathing.  That meant that Trunks and the other half-breed were still asleep.

She descended the stairs in the dark.  Once she found her way back to the sitting room that they had been in earlier she tried to remember which way Goten had went when he fetched the tea from the kitchen.  After a few minutes, she found herself in what looked to be the kitchen.

She pulled out one of the chairs at the table and tossed her boots beside it.  She sat down and crossed her arms over her chest.  After sitting for an unknown amount of time, her head slowly fell so that her chin was resting on her chest.  Her breathing became steady and her posture more relaxed.

Bulma padded into the kitchen wearing her robe and slippers.  She turned the lights on making her squint at the brightness.  She yawned and proceeded to turn the coffee pot on.  She had not slept well that night.  She turned and shook her head at what she saw. 

The new Saiyan houseguest was sound asleep at the table.  Sleep made the girl's expression soften causing her to look younger than Bulma originally thought.  That did not surprise her much, the same thing happened to Vegeta when he slept.  She would have to guess that the girl was closer to Trunks' age than she originally thought.  That thought hurt her a little.

Bulma started over to wake the girl up but stopped.  It was a hazard to one's health to wake a sleeping Saiyan.  So she just started to get the stuff out for breakfast.  She tried to work quickly and quietly but that was hard when one was cooking for a small army of Saiyans.

Homini woke up the smell of some sort of meat frying on the stove.  She turned her head in the direction of the smell and discovered her neck was quite stiff.  She saw many pans on the stove with all sorts of Earth foods cooking in them.  She uncrossed her arms and rubbed her eyes; sleeping upright in a wooden chair was not the most comfortable thing in the world. 

"Rise and shine, sleepy head," came a voice that was all too cheery for her liking.

She turned her head to see the blue-haired human, Bulma, pouring an orange liquid into a glass.  The woman handed the glass to Homini, "Here, drink this, it's just fruit juice."

The Saiyan took the glass and sniffed it warily.  It did not smell all that bad so she took a sip. It was not the best tasting drink in the Galaxy but it was refreshing. She nodded to the woman who was watching to see if she liked it and took another sip.

"Good morning, Homini," Bulma greeted seeing that the girl trusted her enough to drink the juice. "Breakfast will be ready shortly."

"Warm sun and bright moon to you," the girl replied receiving a strange look from her father's mate. "Umm…good morning?"

"That's ok, I'm just not used to hearing Saiyan phrases. Vegeta is not the most verbal person in the world," she encouraged. "Can you help me get breakfast on the table before the boys stampede down here. Don't laugh, but two can be stampede if it's Trunks and Goten."

"Is it seven yet?" Homini asked as she got up from the chair to help.

"Oh, is that why you were down here? How could I be so forgetful," Bulma chuckled. "I didn't realize that you might not have known Earth time. Vegeta never showed up for anything when I told him to but he covered it up by saying that he would do what he wanted, when he wanted. It took me three weeks to realize that he had no clue how to read a clock. Well, at least an Earth clock."

Bulma pointed to the clock on the wall and started to explain the specifics of it.  Homini listened quietly trying to commit it to memory. Just as they were finished the two boys came into the kitchen.  Goten yawning and Trunks looking just as angry as he did the night before. Goten smiled hugely and ran to the table. 

"Alright, waffles!"

Trunks just sat down beside his friend while glaring at the girl.  Bulma shook her head and finished pouring juice for everyone.  Just then a bright-eyed bundle of pure energy came bounding into the kitchen followed by the elder Briefs.

"Mommy!" Bra squealed. " G'mornin'."

The seven converged at the breakfast table.  The dark haired teenager dug right in by stuffing his face full of his favorite breakfast food: Waffles. Homini glared at his lack of table manners disdainfully.  She reached across the table and smacked his hand down before he could put another bite in his mouth.

"Hey, what was that for?"

"Don't you have any respect?" the girl accused. "You shouldn't start eating until the oldest in the household have started. I can't believe they let you get away with that, even if the elders aren't Saiyans."

Everyone stopped and stared at the girl for a moment. Then Dr. Briefs shrugged and started to eat his breakfast.  His wife sipped her coffee and Homini took it as a sign that the meal had begun.  She dug into her meal with the appetite of a true Saiyan but with definitely more table manners than any of the Earthbound Saiyans ever showed.

After everyone finished, Homini got up from the table. Everyone else went their separate directions to do their own things.  The girl was left to wonder around the house alone; Bulma had said that she could go anywhere she liked just as long as she did not get herself into trouble.  After a few minutes, she found herself back in the sitting room once again.  She sat down quietly as space-travel lag was catching up with her again. The recent journey was the longest one she had ever been on and her internal clock was way off. She found herself lying down on the couch to take a small rest. 

Half an hour later, Homini's eyes popped open and she let out a scream.  Something was sitting on her chest and it was alive!

  
***

A/N:  Thanks to smdsp for the idea of "space-travel lag". I know this isn't much of a cliffhanger but I couldn't do a chapter without one.


	12. Purring

Disclaimer: I'm not making any money off of this fic nor do I own DBZ.

Trunks, Goten, and Bulma all rushed into the sitting room when they heard Homini scream.  When they got there, they saw the girl laying on her back, eyes wide, holding her breath, staring at a black ball of fur on her chest.  Bulma shook her head remembering her mate's odd reactions to Earth animals.

Trunks, however, was not so understanding, "Why are you screaming?"

"There's an animal in here," she explained frantically. "And it's on me! Does it bite?"

Bulma chuckled and walked over to the couch.  She gently picked up the offending fur ball. "It's just my dad's cat.  It's a pet; it won't hurt you."

Homini looked at the little thing warily. It left out a soft mew and looked back at her.  She watched Bulma run a hand over its fur and she did the same.  With both women petting it, the cat let out a contented purr. 

Homini looked up, surprised, "Cat's purr?"

"Of course they do," Trunks scoffed.

Bulma choose that moment to interrupt before the two argued, "She's just a little surprised because Saiyans purr, too."

"Do not," Trunks argued like a child.

"Yes, they do." Bulma corrected. "Your father does…"

"That was too much information," Goten complained making a disgusted face.

The pale haired prince glared at his mother, his best friend, and his father's pureblood child. "Speaking of Dad, he's back."

"Did he just get here?" Bulma inquired.

"No, he's been here all morning," the teenager smirked wickedly.  "He's been in the gravity chamber.  I thought you'd notice."

Homini watched as Bulma made an exasperated noise, shook her head, and walked briskly out of the room.  The girl decided it would be best to follow her father's mate; she would know where the gravity chamber was.

Bulma noticed the Saiyan following her.  She did not turn to look at her or slow her pace.  She just launched herself into a very technical explanation of what the chamber was and precisely how many times it had been blow up.

Homini again tuned the Earthling out as she droned on and on.  She was too anxious about seeing Vegeta again.  She ran a hand through her short hair wishing that she had made use of the shower.  She then went to straighten her armor when she realized that she had not put it on.  She groaned inwardly as she saw how her skin-tight body suit clung to her body.  Not only was her feminine body very evident to herself, she was sure that the Prince would notice as well.  It was once again proof that the first-born child of the Prince was not fit to be his heir.

The girl crossed her arms over her chest as she watched the blue-haired woman enter the manual over ride code on the door of the chamber.  With a loud hiss the door opened and the two women strode inside.  The prince was inside rubbing the top of his head and cursing under his breath in Saiyan. 

"Woman, how many times have I told you not to shut the damn machine off when I am training? One of these times I am going to hit my head on the ceiling hard enough to turn into that baka, Kakarrot."

Bulma never gave an apology but instantly started yelling at him about anything and everything that had happened in the past two days. Homini once again was shocked at the woman's audacity.  Vegeta stood his ground and waited for her to run out of air.  When she took a breath, he simply but sternly addressed her.  "I'll talk to you later, woman. Now leave me and the girl alone."

Bulma looked at father and daughter for a moment, shook her head, and exited the chamber.  Homini was for the first time in her memory, left alone with the man who sired her.  She did not know what to say or do with the man who was an absolute stranger to her.

Vegeta gave his firstborn a long look.  He noted with some pride that she had achieved warrior status not that long ago from the fact that her hair was still short.  He also noticed that she had not put her armor on; which made the fact that she was now an adult woman quite evident.  _I must have spent too long with the baka Earthmen to actually notice that. Saiyan warriors are neither male nor female, but warriors. Of course there were always very few female warriors._

"So little girl, let's see how well you've been trained," the prince said motioning her to come forward.  "I'll even let you go and get your armor if you think you'll need it."

"I'm ready now," Homini replied. "I'd like to see if the rumors of the Earth-bound Saiyan's are true."

A/N:  Hey, look I finished another chapter! Hooray for me! I've been asked if there was a mailing list for when I update which would be a great idea! Anyone who wants to be notified when I update this fic, just review and leave your email address so I can tell you.  Thanks for all the great feedback. 


	13. In the chamber

Disclaimer: Don't own, not making any money off of.

A/N: This is for SMDSP because she has been bugging me for more Homini.  I have to admit that I've really had a week full of writer's block – internal and external. 

Homini slouched against the far wall.  Fighting her father was harder than she had thought.  She knew that her own power level was still slightly below his last recorded one but she did not think that it was that much of a difference.  The man was impossible to hit.  The first half of the short spar was spent with her trying to land a punch or a kick while the second half was spent by her being the Prince's personal punching bag.

When she could no longer stand and take another hit, he had given her some sort of bean.  It miraculously healed her.  Physically, she felt better than she had in a long time. When she went into the spar that morning, she was still feeling the fight from the day before and the stiffness from sleeping in a chair.

She did not know what to say now.  Vegeta seemed like he was ignoring her.  He was working out in the center of the chamber like what he had just done was not very much of a work out.  She could tell that he still did not look like he was really working hard.  He had barely broken a sweat at all nor did his expressionless face change during their whole time together.  She was so engrossed in her own thoughts and watching him that she almost did not realize that he had spoken.

"So you ran away?"

"What?" Homini jumped. It took her a second to process what he had said. "How…I mean…how did you know that?"  
"I wasn't born yesterday," the Prince said stopping what he was doing but still did not look at her.  "I know what Saiyan Tradition demands of its royal line, remember?"

"I wasn't running away," the girl said trying to convince someone –maybe even herself. "I was looking for you."  
"Right."

"I was!" she argued.

"Save it," he interjected before she could lie more.  "If you were really looking for me, then they would have sent others with you."

The young, female Saiyan remained silent.  She had again underestimated her father.   She did not realize how transparent her motives were.  She now was at the mercy of the man she barely knew.

The Prince finally turned to look at his daughter. His voice held the slightest tone of interest, "So who is he?"  
"Who's who?"

"Don't give me that. I know how old you are, I know Saiyan tradition, and I know what is expected of the heir to the throne, even if they are female.  So don't try to play innocent with me," Vegeta said sternly.

"Nroc," the girl stated dropping her eyes. "They are forcing that brute, Nroc on me."  
"So, he's the strongest male," the prince seemed to consider that for a moment.  "No way!"

"What?"  
"There is no way that Nappa's brat is going anywhere near any brat of mine," Vegeta said angrily.  "I will not let him take the throne after me."

"There's no way around it," she said slightly surprised at her long lost father's words.  "The remaining elder's chose him and believe me, he is more than willing to mate with me so he can be king. Then, once that happens, I will no longer have any rights as a Princess according to tradition."

"Hn…" the prince stood there thinking for a moment before he looked at the girl again.  "Well, just don't sit there.  You did not fight well enough to earn a nap today.  You have a lot of work to do if you even think you want to fight Kakkarot's youngest brat again since he embarrassed you.  Get up, we'll work for a while then my other brats' mother can find you some better clothes. Earthmen are pigs and that bodysuit doesn't hide much."

"I don't need clothes…" she started to argue.

"It will make that woman happy for some weird reason," Vegeta smirked before going on.  "And besides, if you are going to be staying awhile, brat, then you will have to blend in better."


	14. Earthlings...

Disclaimer: *stands at attention and salutes*  I do not own Dragonball Z, sir!

A/N: Thanks to everyone who's reviewing, especially those who reviewed repeatedly! I really appreciate it!  I love getting reviews…maybe that's why they call me the "Review Whore"!

Bulma stood there looking at her husband and his grown daughter.  They really were not married but she always thought of them that way.  It was kin of hard to obtain a marriage license when someone did not have any records (like a birth certificate) or even has a last name.  _I guess that would make the girl my step-daughter…this is still very strange…_

"Woman, get the brat here some human clothes since she will be staying a while," Vegeta commanded.  He then looked at Homini and smirked.  "Don't forget to get her those women's under-things you are so fond of wearing."

Homini looked confused; she did not know what he had meant by that comment but she did not get a chance to ask her father about it.  He quickly left to room and started towards the Gravity Chamber again.  The girl looked at Bulma waiting for a response.

"Well, I see you and Vegeta have made up," the woman said somewhat cheerily.

"If you call beating the hell out of me and insulting my strength by calling me weaker than the son of a Third class making up," the young woman said cynically.

"Trust me, he called you 'brat', so I'd say you're on his good side."

There was a brief moment of silence as each woman was consumed with her own thoughts.  Bulma began to take a good look at her new stepdaughter.  She was about Vegeta's height, maybe slightly shorter.  She had a decent figure, although more muscular than a human woman.  She also noted what Vegeta had meant by getting her human under-things – much like her father, it was quite obvious that she wore nothing under her bodysuit.  

"So, any specific style of clothing you would like me to get you?" 

Homini eyed Bulma closely.  She definitely did not like the bright colors and form fitting clothing that the woman wore.  She had seen interstellar prostitutes dressed more modestly. "Nothing that looks like what you're wearing. And like I said to Vegeta, I don't need human clothes. I have my armor and that is all I need."  
"I don't think you want to wear that sweaty body suit all the time," Bulma said knowing exactly how to get her into normal clothes.  "I'll show you to the shower and take you're clothes to be washed. You can wear human clothes until your stuff is washed."

"Fine."

The Saiyan female followed the human woman to the bathroom where Bulma showed her how to work the faucets, where the towels were, and the soap and shampoo.  While the girl was busy, the woman took the body suit away and laid out some of her old clothes to wear.  The girl was a bit smaller than her but the articles should not be too extra big.  The shorts were a bit tight on the woman but only because they had been shrunk in the wash not that Bulma had ever gained any weight. (a/n: riiiiiiight)

When Homini exited the bathroom and entered her new bedroom, she found what Bulma had left her.  There was a white article of clothing lying on top of a pair of dark blue shorts.  She assumed that one was to put the white thing on underneath the shorts, so she did.  The shorts were of a stiffer material than she was used to wearing but they were soft. She noted somewhat pleasantly that Bulma had already cut a hole in the shorts for her tail to go through.  She had to wrap her tail back around her waist to keep the shorts from dropping from her waist to rest on her hips.

 There was a strange shaped white thing on top of the shirt laid out.  She had no clue what it was so she did not put it on.  Instead she just slipped on the blue tee shirt with the word "chick" on it.  She assumed that it meant something interesting to humans but the meaning escaped her. 

She quickly slipped on the socks that wear lying by a pair of Earth shoes.  She shoved her feet into the shoes which were slightly too large.  She tied them like she had seen some of the others had worn their shoes earlier and headed out of her room.  She stopped momentarily to grab her scouter before exiting the room.

She made her way back outside for lack of a better thing to do.  Looking at her scouter, she found the power levels that she assumed were Trunks and Goten.  Putting the device back into her pocket, she headed in their direction.  She walked there slowly, not really wanting to get there as quick as she would have if she were flying.  It took her a good twenty minutes to walk through a small forest area and into a clearing.  The boys were sparing with each other now.  They were moving than she thought possible for half-breeds.  They were actually quite good which made her curious as to what their power levels were.  Taking out her scouter again, she was shocked to see that they were both working at a higher level than even she could reach.

"This thing must be broken…or maybe there is some gravitational force on this planet screwing up the readings…" she mumbled out loud.

Both boys then became aware of their visitor.  Dropping to the ground, they approached the girl.  Goten was the first to speak.  "Hey, you look like a regular earthling!"

Homini just growled at the comment.  Looking like an earthling was not high on her wish list.  She did not get the chance to retort though because Trunks decided to cut in. 

"What are you doing here?" His voice was laced with anger.  "And why do I get the feeling that you will be staying for a while."  
"For your information, I am staying on this mudball for a while. And that noisy earthwoman took my gear and gave me this to wear."  She narrowed her eyes at the boys.  "And as for right now, I am here because I was bored.  Now, I'm just curious because my scouter doesn't seem to working."  
Goten, still unfazed by her terseness, spoke again, "Why isn't it working?"

"It seems to be giving off the wrong numbers…it is telling me that you both are stronger than me.  That can't be right, I'm a full-blooded First Class Elite and you both are half-breeds.  And you are the son of a third class at that!"

Trunks smirked evilly at the Noble-born Saiyan.  "There's nothing wrong with your scouter. We're both stronger than you. We weren't even powered up the whole way…want to see a demonstration of what real power is?"

Homini looked at him incredulously.  "Sure, why not…it could be interesting."  
Smirking again, the lavender haired boy looked to his best friend.  "Shall we?"

The dark haired youth shrugged, "Why not."  
Homini looked down at her scouter as the numbers began to rise quickly.  Her eyes got wider and wider as the numbers soared.  The device started beeping and then sparks flew from it. She dropped the hand-held machine and looked up at the boys.  Their hair started to lift up and flicker gold as their eyes slowly lost their usual colors and turned to aqua.  Instantaneously, both boys let out a scream as their hair settled into pure gold.  Homini was speechless.  She thought she knew what had just happened but her brain just would not let herself believe it.

"I see you are impressed by a couple of Super Saiyans!"

She blinked and just gaped at them for a moment.  "That's…that's im…impos…impossible…"

Goten smiled at her in a classic Son grin, " Nope, Dad did it first on Namek and since then, all of us Saiyans on Earth can do it.  Vegeta did it next and then Gohan did.   Trunks and I have been able to go Super Saiyan since we were little kids."

"That is not true," the girl almost screamed.  "There is no way that half-breed and a third class have all that power.  I could believe if Vegeta could do it since he is of the Royal line…the untainted Royal line," she finished looking at her half-brother.

"Will you get off your high horse and look at reality for a minute?"  The son of Vegeta said raising his voice.  "You are really starting to piss me off!"

Trunks did not bother to power down when he turned around and flew off.  Goten looked apologetically to the girl before taking off after his friend.  Homini was left standing alone with her world yet again turned upside down.  Kneeling down, she lifted her broken scouter up to examine it.  It was broken beyond her ability to repair, which left her practically blind to the world around her.

"So you're the Royal Pain in the Ass's oldest spawn…" a deep voice boomed behind her.


	15. a lesson

Disclaimer: you know the drill…

A/N: I'd like to thank everyone who's reviewed this fic! I've gotten some really good reviews. (ie: ones that say what is good about it and what people like. Unlike the ones that just say "more".)   I'm going to do a self plug right now: GO READ MY OTHER FICS, TRUST ME, YOU'LL LIKE THEM!  Ok, maybe you won't like all of them…kami knows a lot of people don't like Broken Lies, Shattering Truths.

Homini turned to see who dared call her that.  Behind her was something she never expected to see especially on Earth: A Namek.  It was a very mean looking one at that.  Considering the believed extinct species of aliens were supposed to be peace-loving and gentle farmers, the specimen behind her was quite a shock.

"Who are you? And how do you know who I am?"  The dark-haired girl spat at the imposing green figure.

"Calm down, kid," he said stepping towards her.  "I'm Piccolo and it was just a wild guess."  
The young Saiyan looked at him incredulously.

"Well, combine that with the fact that you have a tail."  
Homini started to realize that the Namek was not trying to start something.  She took that opportunity to satisfy her curiosity.  "So what is a Namek doing on Planet Earth when Freiza supposedly killed all of them?"  
"He did kill most of them but they were brought back to a different planet," the green one explained.  "As for me, I was born here."

"Oh," the girl said growing quiet.  She looked down at her broken scouter again.  Without its enhanced functions, such as maps, she probably could not get back to Capsule Corps very easily.  "So, Piccolo-san, do you know where Capsule Corps is?"  
"Yes," he said smirking.  "But I'm not going to take you there.  You'll have to find it yourself."

"Listen here, you big green jerk!"  The young woman growled.  She stood up to face the much larger alien.  "You are making me mad enough to start destroying this pathetic planet."  
"Highly unlikely," Piccolo said loosing his smirk and becoming serious.  "I could stop you right now without much effort.  But you wouldn't know that since your little toy is broken."  
Homini growled.  She turned on her heels and started to walk away.  A deep chuckle reached her ears but she tried to ignore it.

"Where are you going now?"  
"I'm going to find my own way back."  
"I never said that I wouldn't help you," the Namkian warrior said quite amused.  "I was going to offer to show you how to find it yourself without the scouter."

Turning to look at the tall, green being again, Homini glared.  "And how would I do that?"  
"Vegeta is there, correct?"

"Yes."

"Then all you have to do is sense his ki and go in that direction.  It's very simple."  
"Simple for you. I can't sense ki."  
"Then I'm going to have to teach you that, too," Piccolo said.  

The next couple of hours were spent with Piccolo teaching Vegeta's daughter.  She was a quick learner and a hard working student.  Soon she could tell with help distinguishing who was who, where her father was, Trunks, Gohan, and Goku.  She was then tested by her teacher to see if she could sense his movements with her eyes closed.  Soon they were lightly sparring to see if she could follow a moving target with her eyes closed.

"You're doing well but you still need to practice," Piccolo stated dryly ending the spar.  They had not been trying to hurt each other, just trying to get Homini to land a hit.  

"I'm going to need a lot of practice," the girl said almost despondently.  "I don't even know how strong everyone is here even though now I can sense them."

"That is because they are hiding their power," he explained starting to sound a lot like Kami giving a sermon.  "We have found that it is best if we don't broadcast how strong we really are to avoid trouble.  Right now, you're like a flashing billboard screaming 'here I am, fight me!'"

"Hiding is for cowards!"  
"We're not hiding," the Namek stated while a smirk crept on his face.  "We're just not boasting about our power."

"Ok, O wise one…how do lower my ki so I'm not _boasting_ about my power?"

"Just start by pushing down you ki. Suppress it as far as you can…good…keep it going.  I should barely be able to tell you from the rest of the humans…"

"Don't group me with humans. They are a weak species."

"Pheh.  In my life I have determined that there are very few differences between humans and Saiyans: Tails and appetites."

Homini rolled her eyes at the other alien.  "Thanks for sharing your infinite wisdom, _sensei_," the girls said only somewhat sarcastically.  It was the close she had ever come to actually thanking anyone.

"Now don't start with the 'sensei' shit.  Gohan still calls me Mr. Piccolo just to annoy me. I don't need another Saiyan brat starting," Piccolo complained jokingly.

"Well, it's been fun, but I should be getting back. They'll probably think I dropped off the face of this planet since I'm hiding."

Using her new technique, the Saiyan princess found her way back to her father's home.  She kept her broken scouter though.  Laying it on the dresser in the room she was staying, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror.  She almost growled; she did look almost human.  If it were not for her tail, one would not be able to tell that she was not on of the annoying earthlings.  _I wonder if those half-lings have tails? Wait a minute, where's Vegeta's tail?_

Homini's eyes got wide as she realized that her father was lacking his tail.  She wrapped her tail tighter around her waist.  She did not know how he had lost his but she was not losing hers.  She determined that she had to find out how he lost it because the other full-blooded Saiyan did not have one either.  She was afraid that someone would try to remove hers with or without her permission.  She had to find her father and ask him.  Quickly exiting her room, the girl ran right into something small that just fell backwards.  Before Homini could even figure out what she ran into, whatever it was started crying loudly!


	16. once upon a time...

Disclaimer: ditto!

A/N: I was slightly insulted by a review stating that I should have better people in my favorite authors.  Renegade Phoenix and SMDSP are my friends and they help me quite a bit in my writing.  And even though they may not update very often, I can understand why. We are all college students and very busy.  Ok, enough ranting, on with the story!

Homini looked down at the tiny girl sitting on the floor with big fat tears rolling down her cheeks.  She actually thought she had hurt the child, she knew very little about human children.  For all she knew, they could be very fragile and weak.  She leaned down over the blue-haired crier.

"Are you hurt?"  
The little girl sniffled and lifter her arms up.  Homini assumed that she wanted picked up for whatever reason.  She figured she would do anything to make up for hurting the small child.  So she picked Bra up and stood up.  Looking up and down the hall, she checked to see if anyone else was there.  With no on in sight, she took the girl into her room.

"Did I hurt you?"  
The little girl wrapped her arms tightly around Homini's neck, "I'm ok."  
"You sure?  I didn't mean to."  
"You didn't hurt me, Hominimini," the little girl said giggling.  She released the hug slightly to look at the older girl.

The full-blooded Saiyan female shook her head as she set the child down on the bed, "It's Hom-in-i."  
Bra smiled brightly, "Yep, Hominimini!"

"No," she corrected started to realize the girl was doing it on purpose.  "You can say it right.  My name is Homini."  
"Nope," she giggled again.  "You're name is Hominimini."

"Riiiight…now come on, what is my name?"  
"Mini-chan!"

The young Saiyan woman sat down on the bed beside the girl.  She watched as Bra giggled in glee.  She gave up and just shook her head.  "You are too silly, B-chan."

"Uh-huh," the child said nodding in an exaggerated fashion.  "Tell me a story, Mini-chan."  
"A story?"  Homini asked a big confused.  "What kind of story?"  
"A princess story! Like Cinderella or Snow White."  
"I've never heard of those stories before.  How do they go?"

"Well…thy all start with 'once upon a time' and then you tell about the pretty princess and the bad stuff that happens to her and then how she falls in love with Prince Charming and he rescues her and 'they live happily ever after'."

"They all go like that?"

"Uh-huh."

Homini sat there thinking.  She had never been in contact with a culture that indoctrinated such stories on their children.  It was quaint, it was optimistic, it was idealistic, and it was so unrealistic.  Yet somehow, she liked that scenario: Even though the poor princess suffered, her life got better in the end.

"Well, uh, _once upon a time_," the older girl looked at the younger to se if she was doing it correctly.  After receiving a nod from the child, she continued, "There was a young princess who was all alone.  Her daddy and mommy were both gone.  Since her people's rules said that a girl could not rule over them, they wanted her to…ah…join with their…prince."  
The little girl frowned slightly, "But the prince was a bad man wasn't he? He was mean to the little princess."  
"Yes, he was very mean.  He just wanted the girl because she was a princess and because she was the…" Homini stopped herself before she said the princess was the strongest.  She figured that would not have been what the little girl wanted to hear.  "She was the most beautiful girl."

 "So what did the pretty princess do?"  
"Well, she knew that if she stayed, the prince would be mean to her and she would not get to rule her people.  So the princess stole a ship and left her home in the middle of the night.  She ran away from everything she had ever known," finishing that part of the story, Homini paused.  She took a few deep breaths and noted that the little girl had been hanging on every word.  Wetting her lips, she decided to continue.

"When the pretty princess was far away from her home and people, she found out that her daddy wasn't gone after all.  He was just living somewhere else.  She went looking for him and amazingly she found him!

He had a new family there, in that strange place.  There were others of her kind, another prince and princess.  They were all happy there and took the little run away in."

Bra leaned in towards the older girl.  Her bright, blue eyes were fixed on deep, black ones.  "And she lived happily ever after?"  
"I guess so, B-chan," the full-blooded Saiyan said absently.  

"Yep, the Pretty Princess lives happily ever after!"  The blue-haired girl said happily while leaning over further to hug her older half-sister.

Homini smiled slightly at the girl.  She slowly started to return the embrace.  Her one hand lifted to touch the child's silky, blue hair.  

Right at that moment, Bulma choose to clear her throat.  Both girls turned to look at the woman in the doorway.  The youngest one squealed and ran over to her mother.  The older one stood up and straightened her clothes nervously.

"Mommy! Mini-chan told me a princess story!"

"Did she?  Well that was nice of her," Bulma said looking at Homini and smiling.  "Bra, your grandma's looking for you.  I think she said something about baking chocolate chip cookies."

The pint-sized demi-saiyan did not need told twice about cookies and raced down the hallway towards the kitchen.  Bulma just laughed and turned her attention back to her mate's oldest child.

"I bought you some clothes and shoes that should probably fit.  You can try them on later.  Right now, I have to talk to you about something."  
Homini nodded slightly.  She still felt uncomfortable around humans.  She did not know much about them to start with and with what she saw in the past two days, she was not going to underestimate anyone living on Earth.  "Alright.  What do you want to talk about?"  
"We'll go to my lab first before we get into it," the woman said starting to lead the way down to her lab.  "By the way, I have a question just out of curiosity."

"I'm not promising an answer."

"_Mini-chan_?"

The Saiyan female  just rolled her eyes and shook her head.


	17. boys and girls

Disclaimer: bah…

A/N:  I am soooooo sorry for not updating this like I should. I've started too many other fics and college has just been atrocious! Hopefully, I'll have a little bit of the plot in this chapter…although seeing as I'm just starting the chapter now, it's still debatable. ^_~ 

Chapter Dedication:  Burny-chan, this is for you baby!  You'll know why soon.  Sorry for not rp'ing…it seems that if I'm rp'ing that I'm not ficing, and when I'm ficing, I'm not rp'ing.  And spell check just does not like that paragraph!

Anyways: Onward!

"So how was your first day on Earth?" the prince's mate asked like she was talking to a five year old who just came home from their first day of kindergarten.

"Interesting, to say the least," the young woman responded quietly.

"How so?" Bulma asked as she led the girl further into the bowels of Capsul Corps.  

"You really want to know?"  Homini inquired hesitantly. 

"I asked, didn't I?"

The girl shrugged and wet her lips, "Are Trunks and Goten really Super Saiyans?"

"Yes.  All of the Earth-bound Saiyans are. They were the youngest – although neither will say which one was first.  I have a feeling that it was Goten though.  The boys are extremely competitive, but the only boasting that is done is when Trunks comes out ahead.  Goten's very loyal so he never wants to make himself look stronger than his best friend."

"I thought as much."

"Huh?" the genius muttered in question.

"Kaishaku."

"And that is…"

"Trunks, being Vegeta's son," there was a hint of contempt in the girl's voice as she spoke of her father's son.  "Is a born leader.  He naturally attracts other Saiyans near his age and level to follow him.  The strongest of these is called his 'Kaishaku' or his second.  The first and his second start their partnership early in life usually when they are in their first training group.  It is always quite obvious when a pair is formed because of the fierce loyalty and rivalry shared.  In the lower classes, they sometimes call the pairs 'battle brothers' and the two are almost considered siblings.  But in the case of the prince, it is always called Kaishaku.  It is more formal because the Kaishaku is the prince's second in command over all other Saiyans."

"That explains a lot," Bulma said thoughtfully.  "Not just about Trunks and Goten, but about Goku and Vegeta."

"Goku…the third class?"

"Yeah, 'Kakarrot the third-class baka'," Bulma said mocking the girl's father.  "His brother was Radditz."  
Homini chuckled, "That makes things interesting."

"How so?"  The woman waited but received no answer.  She took the girl's silence as a sign to not press the subject any further.  Just at that moment though, they reached their destination.  "Never mind, we're here."

Bulma led the full-blooded Saiyan into a brightly lit room and closed the door.  Tables were lined with beakers and test tubes holding multi-chromatic liquids.  There were also various microscopes and other equipment littering the room.  

"I hadn't dabbled much in chemistry and biology since I was a teenager and made the 'piggy pill' but that's besides the point," she turned to look at the girl.  "Have you noticed what you have that none of the other Earth-Saiyans have?"

"Yeah, my tail," the girl said as if realizing it for the first time.  She slowly unwound the appendage from around her waist and let is sway slightly behind her. 

"Exactly.  Goku, Vegeta, and Gohan had their removed a long time ago.  First it was because of the moon.  Earth's moon had a twenty-eight day cycle, which from what I gather was extremely short, compared to Vegeta-sei.  See how dangerous that could be?

"The rest, Trunks, Goten, Bra, and Pan had theirs removed at birth.  Although, when Pan's was removed, I took a cell sample from her tail.  I didn't get one from Bra because I was…well…otherwise occupied.

"I've spent the last few years developing an injection that will cause tail regeneration. The only problem is that it only works on those who are genetically compatible with the sample.  Therefore, it will only be effective on Gohan, Goten, and Goku.  I have no sample for Vegeta, Trunks, and Bra."

The girl stood there silently for a minute thinking.  The furry limb was curling and uncurling behind her.  "So, let me guess. You want a sample from mine?"

"Precisely!"

"Eh, I don't know about this…" Homini wrapped her tail tightly around her waist again.

"I promise, I won't hurt you.  I even have something to numb the area so you won't feel a thing."

"Alright, just don't tell my father where you got the sample from.  He wouldn't like knowing that it came from a female's tail," the girl said tentatively.  She unwound her tail once again and let Bulma gently take a hold of it.

The woman retrieved a small package from the tabletop and opened it. Removing a moist swab from it she wiped it over a small section of Homini's tail.  As she started to retrieve a needle to extricate the sample, she continued her idle discussion with the girl.  "Why wouldn't he like to know it was from a girl? I would think he would be proud that his daughter was nice enough to help him regain what he had unwillingly lost."

"You don't know much about Saiyan culture do you?" the girl asked almost shocked.  Upon receiving a shake of the head from the woman genius, she elaborated.  "Saiyan's are a very segregated group: The classes do not usually mingle, neither do the sexes or the groups with in the sexes.  You see there are two types of males and two types of females.   Each is separated by their power level and ability to fight.  The strongest of both are the warriors but the weaker ones of the males are the worker while the weakest females are breeders."

"Then let me guess that the third class is the lowest of the warriors, since Vegeta's apparent distaste of Goku – or at least his class."

"Right," the Saiyan woman winced momentarily.  "Do you mind not squeezing my tail so much while working?  You've numbed one area of it but not the whole thing."

"Sorry," Bulma said lightening her touch on the appendage.  "But that still doesn't explain why Vegeta wouldn't want to know that the sample came from a female."

"I told you we are a very segregated people.  The warriors of both genders are probably the most integrated in that they at least communicate with each other but beyond that it is nothing.  Eating, sleeping, and bathing are done separately.  One is only permitted to be in mixed company when one is with their family."

"Which is why you were ok eating with us?"

"Correct, and since Goten is the Kaishaku, then he is considered part of your family and therefore no threat to me."

"Threat?"

"There are few females and those are mostly breeders, very few are warriors.  Some males forget that the warriors are almost their equals and try to treat them like the breeders…" The girl's voice drifted off as she hoped that the woman would get her point without having to explain further.

"Oh…OH!"  The genius said stopping what she was doing.  "They would really do _that?_"

"Oh yes, that is why the women warriors crop off their hair: To reduce their attractiveness and show that they are dedicated to being fighters. And it is also what the deal is with the tails.  Women never let their tails loose around males.  Tails are the outward sign of sexuality with Saiyans.  Only warriors wrap their tails to protect them and to prevent other warriors from seeing them. Tail movements can be quite seductive."

"But I assume that you are allowed to lower your tail around other females?"

"Of course, they are no threat."

"Well, we're done here, you can go get ready for dinner now," Bulma said turning to her equipment with the sample.  "Thank you for helping, just don't tell any of them yet.  I want it to be a surprise."

"Sure," Homini said exiting the lab room. 

A few short weeks had past on the Earth.  Homini spent her days in mostly the same way.  Her father would train her and then Piccolo would help her with her ki.  She barely left Capsul Corps or the surrounding area (only when she was out with Piccolo).  The only Earthlings she had contact with were the ones she had met that first day on the planet.  Nothing more was said between Bulma and Homini about the plan to restore the Saiyans' tails.  Very little was also said of the reasons fro the girl staying there; those who knew did not discuss it and those who did not, avoided the topic.  Trunks all out avoided anything to do with the full blood and in return the girl did not seem to care at all.  Finally one day, Bulma decided that it was time that the two siblings should try to get along. 

"Trunks, are you and Goten going out tonight?" She asked slyly.

"Yeah, mom, we were going to meet some friends and catch a movie in the city," the unsuspecting youth replied.

"Why don't you take Homini with you?  She hasn't really been in contact with any real Earth culture yet and it would be a good learning experience for her."

"No way! Anything but that! I am not taking her anywhere.  All my friends are going to be there so I don't want her embarrassing me and acting all weird," Trunks growled.  He knew better than to yell at his mother but he was very close to it.  "Any ways what am I supposed to tell them about her?"

"The truth, I've never condoned lying, you know that!"

"So I'm just supposed to say, 'hey guys, this is my sister, she's an alien and just came to Earth for the first time'."

"No, just say that she is your half-sister who just came to live with her father for the first time.  And you talk like you aren't an alien, too," the mother scolded. "I could tell Vegeta that you aren't proud of your Saiyan heritage…"

"No! Don't do that! I'll take her!  Just don't get Dad mad at me!"

A/N: Mwahahaha…I get to torture everyone in the next chapter!  Homini in public with unsuspecting humans…that's a disaster waiting to happen!  Sorry about the very quick change of directions with this chapter.  I was typing it last night, got so tired so I went to bed without finishing; twelve hours of sleep later…this is what happened.  Normally I don't sleep that much, but I think I needed it!  Anyways, review please!!  


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